by Robb Donker Curtius | Sunday, March 23, 2025
The alt pop wandering third eye of "You" by, indie singer-songwriter Kirsten Izer, feels mysterious, soars to ethereal places and asks questions. I love the sort of trip hop electronica happening in this song, I am a champion of understated, perfectly placed sounds that has ambient atmospheres that wrap around you. "You" is that. Don't get me wrong, it is highly produced, wonderfully produced but doesn't sound like it is, the ebb and flow, the emotional musical arc is so engaging. Of course, a huge part of this pull and push is the song itself and Kirsten Izer's vocal countenance that is bathed in questions, relationship questions (in my mind) that might have to do with the old existential tugs of where do I begin and where do your start or vice a versa and is 'we' an entirely different spiritual animal, entity??
Of course, these are my questions (veiled laughter) not Izer's but those and many others arize when I listen to "You". It is that kind of song and the one word chorus as realized by "Izer", in layers of vocals, is magnetic, is drop dead gorgeous with equal parts longing and sadness. Now, for the record this track wa written by Izer and co-produced with ARIA Award winning producer Randy Belculfine (Tones and I, Tanerélle) and, as LINER NOTES (bracketed), reflect [“You” is a poignant reflection on unconditional love and the enduring bonds that transcend time and distance].